VisitScotland Business Events team and 13 Scottish partners at The Meetings Show 2023
Published 26/07/2023
Last month, the VisitScotland Business Events team and 13 Scottish partners attended The Meetings Show, which took place at the ExCel in London, and is the largest meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions tradeshow in the UK.
Hosting over 600 exhibitors and attracting over 1,200 buyers to the two-day event, The Meetings Show is a fantastic opportunity to take in the rich diversity of the industry and broaden your network and sector knowledge.
The partners in attendance were:
- Aberdeen Convention Bureau
- Assembly Rooms Edinburgh
- Cameron House on Loch Lomond
- Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC)
- Glasgow Convention Bureau
- voco Grand Central Glasgow and Kimpton Blythswood Square
- P&J Live
- Scottish Event Campus (SEC)
- Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa
- Surgeons Quarter
- Trump Turnberry
- University of Edinburgh Hospitality and Events Collection
- Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian
Over 120 appointments took place on the Scotland stand, with the team and partners sharing key industry knowledge and insights, as well as offering information on the fantastic range of venues and services the country has to offer.
Scotland reception
To end the first day of The Meetings Show, a reception was held on the VisitScotland stand for buyers, attendees and partners to enjoy after a busy day of meetings, networking and education. The reception was well attended and allowed for conversations to continue with our team and partners, as well as allowing for new connections to be made in a more relaxed setting.
Advocating government policy to enact change
On the second day of The Meetings Show, Patrick Lamont, Business Events Policy Engagement Manager at VisitScotland Business Events was one of the panellists for the educational session 'Government Policy Initiatives for the Events Sector' as part of The Meetings Show educational programme.
Hosted by The Business of Events at the Impact & Inform stand, the session was facilitated by Martin Fullard, Director, News & Content - The Business of Events, and Patrick was also joined by Kerrin MacPhie, mia UK and Peter Heath, Venue Performance.
The session focused on the power of business events as economic, policy, and community drivers for transformational change and the panellists provided their insights on how business events can better leverage their position to reach out to governments, policy makers and influencers of the public sector.
Reflecting on the panel session, Patrick Lamont, Business Events Policy Engagement Manager, VisitScotland Business Events said: "Demonstrating how business events can be a catalyst for positive change is at the heart of our strategy. The panel session provided some excellent discussions about how the inherent value and impacts of our industry can be demonstrated in order to engage with and gain support from governments, policy makers and influencers. Sessions such as this are an invaluable opportunity to share knowledge and support the wider industry to work towards a strong and sustainable future."
Government Policy Initiatives for the Events Sector panel of speakers
Discussing the show, Emma Richards, Business Development Manager - UK VisitScotland Business Events, said: "The Meetings Show is always a delight to attend and it's a great opportunity for us to generate strong leads as a result of on-stand meetings, as well as renew industry friendships and make valuable new contacts.
"Overall, we found that event planners are demonstrating an ever-growing emphasis on the importance of sustainability in the planning and implementation of business events. We believe it is essential that destinations can demonstrate how they are actively taking climate action and ensuring the local communities are at the heart of their planning.
"Scotland is leading the way in sustainable practice within the business events industry across the UK and Europe, and attending events such as The Meetings Show acts as an excellent platform from which to share our expertise and achievements in this area."
To find out more about our time at The Meetings Show, watch our video summarising the event here